NAME

ps2fax - image POSTSCRIPT® for facsimile transmission by HylaFAX

SYNOPSIS

/var/spool/hylafax/bin/ps2fax [ options ] [ files... ]

DESCRIPTION

ps2fax takes POSTSCRIPT input and generates a TIFF Class F image file
suitable for facsimile transmission. It is usually invoked by the
HylaFAX scheduler process, faxq(8). On Silicon Graphics’ IRIX systems,
this application is based on Adobe’s Display POSTSCRIPT software. On
other machines POSTSCRIPT imaging is typically done using the freely
available Ghostscript software.
ps2fax is actually a link (symbolic or otherwise) to the script
appropriate for the POSTSCRIPT imaging tool. The link is setup when
the faxsetup(8) script is run to configure a HylaFAX server machine for
use.
Input files containing POSTSCRIPT may be specified on the command line.
If none are given, then ps2fax will read from standard input.
By default, ps2fax will generate a 98 line/inch output document whose
page width is 1728 pixels and page length is 297 mm (a standard A4 page
at low resolution). Horizontal resolution is always 204 dpi. Command
line options may be used to select alternate vertical resolution and
page dimensions.
If no filename is given, ps2fax writes its output to a file named
ps.fax; the -o option can be used to specify an alternate filename.
By default, output is compressed using the standard Group 3 1D-encoding
scheme, with EOL codes padded to byte boundaries. If the -2 option is
specified, output is encoded with the optional Group 3 2D-encoding
scheme (EOL codes are still padded to byte boundaries).
This script can modify outgoing facsimile, such as watermarking, To do
this create a shell script etc/FaxModify in the spooling area that
alters the document.
Note that bin/ps2fax is usually just a link to a shell script that
invokes the appropriate POSTSCRIPT RIP to do the work.

OPTIONS

The following operations are recognized:
-1 Write Group 3 1D-encoded data to the output file.
-2 Write Group 3 2D-encoded data to the output file.
-3 Write Group 4 MMR-encoded data to the output file.
-mpages Set the maximum number of pages that are permitted in the
output file. If more pages are present in the input document
then abort processing.
-ofile Write output to the specified file instead of the default
ps.fax filename.
-wwidth Set the output page width, in pixels. By default, pages are
1728 pixels wide.
-llength Set the output page length in millimeters. By default, pages
are 297 millimeters long.
-rvres Set the vertical resolution, in lines/inch, at which to image
the POSTSCRIPT.

RUNTIMEENVIRONMENT

Before user-supplied POSTSCRIPT is passed to the POSTSCRIPT
interpreter, a limited number of operators are defined. These
operators are operators commonly found in a LaserWriter printer and
(sometimes) generated by Macintosh-based applications.
The default Display POSTSCRIPT-based execution environment includes
support for the following fonts:
AvantGarde-Book Helvetica-Bold Palatino-BoldItalic
AvantGarde-BookOblique Helvetica-BoldOblique Palatino-Italic
AvantGarde-Demi Helvetica-Narrow Palatino-Roman
AvantGarde-DemiOblique Helvetica-Narrow-Bold StoneSerif
Bookman-Demi Helvetica-Narrow-BoldOblique Symbol
Bookman-DemiItalic Helvetica-Narrow-Oblique Tekton
Bookman-Light Helvetica-Oblique Times-Bold
Bookman-LightItalic Lithos-Bold Times-BoldItalic
Courier NewCenturySchlbk-Bold Times-Italic
Courier-Bold NewCenturySchlbk-BoldItalic Times-Roman
Courier-BoldOblique NewCenturySchlbk-Italic ZapfChancery-MediumItalic
Courier-Oblique NewCenturySchlbk-Roman ZapfDingbats
Helvetica Palatino-Bold
Note that this is the same set of fonts supported by the DPS extension
to the X server.
The default Ghostscript-based environment is more uncertain; consult
the Ghostscript documentation for information on what fonts are
available.

BUGS

Output from the Display POSTSCRIPT version of this command is encoded
according to the Display POSTSCRIPT binary encoding protocol.
No prebuilt bitmap fonts are currently available for the DPS-based
imager; this would greatly improve legibility at low resolutions, as
the rendering of outline fonts at 98 lpi is particularly poor.
Both DPS- and Ghostscript-based versions of this program fail to exit
with non-zero status when an invalid POSTSCRIPT document is processed;
this makes it problematic for the HylaFAX queue manager to determine
when a problem arises when preparing a job for transmission.